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 Medieval Britain
#1
An old Article I had for a couple years and
decided to post... I didn't write it.


Medieval Britain
All Three Issues by Raytane
by Raytane



Issue One
A nice article detailing Medieval Britian. Includes Castles, Occupations, and the Royal Family.

This is the first of series of articles that I hope to write. Maybe 1 every 2 weeks, depends on how much homework I get, anyway here I fo.
Most RM2/3 games that I’ve played are based around the medieval times, they all have a few things added in, mainly magic but still most at the raw are from the medieval times. This article will explain one of the major things of Medieval times, castles. The whole series will be based around Medieval Britain.

Types Of Castles:
Generally castles in RM2K games are all ruled by a king. In the medieval times this was not true. Usually castles could only be build with the approval of the king, so he could make sure the castle was in the hands of someone he could trust. In times of anarchy there were generally outbreaks of illegal castle building.

The Norman conquers developed castle building into a fine art, of course they had to as it was such an insecure period that defence was a necessity of life. Most people when they think of castles think of a massive stone beast, but before 1100 ad all castles were made of wood.

Motte and Bailey Castles: These types of castles were built on an artificial or natural mound (the Motte) with a deep ditch surrounding it. Around this was an area of land, called a Bailey, this is where the buildings used by the people working in the castle were, stables, store houses, bakeries, cottages, kitchens and quarters for soldiers. The Bailey was surrounded by a wooden paladise and an outer ditch or fosse. Sometimes water was diverted by a nearby stream into this ditch. There are no good examples of Motte and Bailey castles left today, as most were rebuilt in the 12th century and replaced with stone keeps.

Early Keeps: Shell keeps, of which few survive, were set on artificial or natural mounds. Stone walls 8-10 feet thick and 20-25 feet high enclosed a circular or polygonal area of 40-100 feet in diameter. Within the walls residential buildings in stone and possibly wood were built. A stronger design was the square or rectangular Norman keep which developed mainly in the middle and late 12th century. These immensely strong keeps were too heavy for artificial mounds and had to be built on natural high points. The keep walls were 20 feet thick at the base, rising to over 100 feet in height. Bedchambers, garderobes (latrines), and passages were built inside the thickness of the walls. Corner turrets provided an unobstructed line of sight along each wall.

Edwardian Castles: The keeps were ideal for the time in which they were built, but by the middle of the 13th century the needs had changed. A base that could be used for offensive actions rather then pure defense was needed. So the keep was discarded in favor of another design, known as the concentric design. These castles are often called Edwardian.

Concentric Design: Concentric castles have no central strong point like a keep. Instead they rely on rings of walls, one inside the other, with towers along the sides of the walls. Most Edwardian castles have three concentric rings of walls and towers. The central area was kept as an open courtyard around which were clustered separate domestic buildings. Such as the ones described above. The outer wall was ringed by a moat with access over a draw bridge through a separate gatehouse or barbican. Several Norman keeps were converted into concentric castles. The central keep was usually retained for accommodation.

Here are a few designs that I got from movies, such as Lord of the Rings.

Helms Deep Styles: These types of castles are built with natural features around them, to offer more protection, such as rivers, cliffs or even the sea. While these provide more protection they also are a danger, as there often isn’t an easy way out, for if there was the enemy could come from there too. In Lord of the Rings, there was a way out through the caves, although that too was dangerous, perhaps you could have the heroes escaping through a dangerous path, which could be under water, through a mountain or underground.

Village Surrounded Castles: These castles are sort of like Motte and Bailey castles, however they do not necessarily have to be on a hill. They would generally have a stone keep or castle as the center point and around that would often be a moat. After the moat would be a village or city, whatever. The village would extend right around the actual castle, it would most likely be where most of the castle workers live and sleep. Around the village would be another wall, usually a wooden one as it is quite a large area to do in stone.

Well that about wraps up the castle design section. Of course there are many more different ways of making castles, this is just a guide line for you to use if you wish. Next up, People of the Castle!



People of the Castle!
A lot of games I have played have people living in a castle, who really, just shouldn’t be there. Also a lot of games have vital people missing, who should always be in a castle, this section outlines the different jobs that your people occupying the castle or lands around it could have, as well as a brief description of what they are and how they could be used.

Jobs:


Bailif:
in charge of allotting jobs to the peasants, building repair, and repair of tools used by the peasants.
Could be used if you have a part of the game where you stay in a city as a peasant, or maybe a quest could be to find the Bailif to issue an order to repair a building.
Blacksmith:
forged and sharpened tools and weapons, beat out dents in armor, made hinges for doors, and window grills. Also referred to as Smiths.
THE most common person(excluding royal family) in games. Obviously he could be used as a shop keeper, or perhaps you could make it so you had to place an order for a weapon/armor and he fill make/fix it for you after a certain period of time.
Bottler:
in charge of the buttery or bottlery.
I guess just a humorous job you could have, or maybe you could make a mini game involving working at a bottlery.
Butler:
cared for the cellar and was in charge of large butts and little butts (bottles) of wine and beer. Under him a staff of people would be around to help.
Well you must have seen/heard of these guys SOMEWHERE, basically they are servants, although in this case they manage the wine and beer, could be used at a feast where you place an order for wine/beer or you could make a mini game involving serving people wine and beer.
Carpenter:
built flooring, roofing, siege engines, furniture, paneling for rooms, and scaffolding for building.
Generally he builds things, mainly involving buildings but also you can see siege engines there, which a vital piece of equipment for any army planning to lay siege to another castle..
Carters:
workmen who brought wood and stone to the site of a castle under construction.
Could be used if you have a scene where a castle is being built, these would be the people carrying stone and wood to where the castle is being built.
Chamberlain:
responsible for the great chamber and for the personal finances of the lord of the castle.
A very important person in any castle. He is (as stated above) the finance advisor of the lord of the castle.
Chaplin:
provided spiritual welfare for laborers and the castle garrison. The duties might also include supervising building operations, clerk, and keeping accounts. He also tended to the chapel.
Really just a unique job for a member of your castle to have.
Clerk:
person who checked material costs, wages, and kept accounts.
Another job to give your person, of course if you had a castle that the player took over this job could be quite useful.
Cook:
roasted, broiled, and baked food in the fireplaces and ovens.
Quite simple what they do really.
Falconer:
highly skilled expert responsible for the care and training of hawks for the sport of falconry.
A great character for a mini game or maybe even a PC (Playable Character).
Knight:
a professional soldier. This was achieved only after long and arduous training which began in infancy.
Anyone who doesn’t know what this is, well really I don’t understand how you couldn’t, my guess is that this is the most used profession, job, class etc. used in all RM2K/3 games. Even most other RPG games set in medieval times WILL have a knight in it.
Marshal:
officer in charge of a household's horses, carts, wagons, and containers. He also oversaw the transporting of goods.
Well again just another job to be used, would be good if the player owned a castle, he could organize trade routes or whatever with neighboring kingdoms/castles.
Messengers:
servants of the lord who carried receipts, letters, and commodities.
Quite important I think, this was almost the only way to talk to other castles, forts, armies and kingdoms. A castle without one isn’t a castle IMO (In My Opinion).
Miner:
skilled professional who dug tunnels for the purpose of undermining a castle.
Could be used in a siege of another castle, where you have to mine underneath or protect the miners themselves.
Minstrels:
part of the castle staff who provided entertainment in the form of singing and playing musical instruments.
Pretty much a Jester, always a good thing to have at a feast or big event.
Scullions:
responsible for washing and cleaning in the kitchen.
Really just another one of those jobs to give to your people to make them actually have a job, no real point to it (that I can think of).
Steward:
took care of the estate and domestic administration. Supervised the household and events in the great hall, also referred to as a Seneschal.
Important person in a castle, I think all castle’s should have one, doesn’t matter the purpose.
Squire:
attained at the age of 14 while training as a knight. He would be assigned to a knight to carry and care for the weapons and horse.
All knights back then had a squire, so this too, is an important job.
Watchmen:
an official at the castle responsible for security. Assisted by lookouts (the garrison).
Most games will have these anyways, really they are just guards.
Woodworkers:
Tradesmen called Board-hewers who worked in the forest, producing joists and beams.
Just a job to give to people if you want more.



The Lord/Royal Family:
The most important person in any castle, the owner. In most cases it will be the king. Of course in medieval times each “king” would normally have a number of castles under his command. Each of these castles would be manned by a Lord he trusts, so when creating the owner he doesn’t have to be the king.
Also I think the Lord is quite an important person and you should make him quite in-depth, however this article isn’t going to tell you how, however there are a great number of good articles about making characters.
The Lord should also have a family. I’ll start with the Queen.

Queen:
Really doesn’t do much, she sits there with the King on most occasions, of course she has her own time in which she should do things that she enjoys. She shouldn’t embark on any missions the king goes on unless it is relevant to your plot.
Prince:
An important figure. He is almost like the king in every respect, he goes to war (as a commander), attends meetings and competitions etc.
Princess:
I’m not very good on this person, you will have free will on what she does.



Well that about wraps up the people of the castle and my article.

A few notes I’d like to add.

Not all workers live in the castle, some may live in outlying buildings or other places. Some may sleep in the castle however it won’t be the great comfort that the Lord will have.

Guests to the castle are also treated with respect, and will generally get good rooms and seats at feasts.

That’s all for now folks, my next article will be on the weapons of Medieval times, until then, cya!

Raytane





Issue Two

Second in the series on Medieval Britain. This time focusing on weapons, not just the basic ones that everyone knows, but lots, lots more, examples are Rapier, Morning Star and a whole lot of others. Here we go.

----WARNING----
This article is seven pages long in Microsoft Word so in order to help I have here all the weapons available in this article, just use ctrl-f and type in the weapon to find it.

Axes * Scimitar * Bow * Backsword * Broadsword
Crossbow * Daggers * Falchion * Gladius * Greatsword
Halberd * Javelin * Katana * Lance * Longbow * Long-sword
Mace * Morning Star * Pike * Pole Arms * Rapier
Sabre * Smallsword * Spears * Tomahawk * Two-handed Sword
Warhammer



Weapons!
I will be dividing this section up into 3 broad categories, Swords, Ranged Weapons and Others. Starting with…


Swords:
The most common weapon, almost a necessity in any medieval game, goes hand in hand with knights. This category has the most things to go with it as it was the most widely used weapon of the medieval times.

Scimitar:
is a type of sword, normally with a deeply curved blade with a single cutting edge, though some are known to exist with a blade very shallowly curved. This curve makes the Scimitar almost exclusively a slashing sword.
They can be found in one or two handed variants, with blades ranging in length from around 30" to 36", and the blades, while commonly depicted as being very wide (from cutting edge to the rear of the blade), seem most often to have been very thin.
Broadsword:
There are two types of broadswords, the European broadsword and the Chinese Dao, which is commonly translated as a broadsword as well. However the two are very different. The European broadsword had a blunt edge and a sharp tip. The blades usually have a diamond cross-section, and are very heavy. They are usually used against armored knights, first by using the dull edge to knock your opponent out, then using the weight of the sword and the sharp tip to pierce straight through the amour. The Dao, on the other hand, is a light cutting weapon. It has a very thin, swept-back blade, with a swept-in handle. It is normally used with one hand, and sometimes two were wielded at once, to sacrifice balance for offensive potential. There is normally either a large ring or bits of colored cloth attached to the bottom of the hilt.
Backsword:
Backsword is a denomination of any type of sword, generally of European origin, that has only one edge, with the back of the sword often being the thickest part of the blade.
Some backswords curved in order to make slicing/chopping action easier, at some expense of thrusting power, but this should not be seen as an overwhelming trend in the type, but rather limited to specialized forms.
Sabre:
The sabre (or saber) is a European backsword with a distinct curvature and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger. The length of sabres varied, but they were always made to be worn in a scabbard hanging from the waist.
The origins of the sabre are somewhat unclear, and it may come from designs such as the falchion or the scimitar. Originally, the sabre was used as a cavalry weapon that gradually came to replace the various straight bladed cutting sword types on the battlefield. As time went on, sabres became insignia of rank in many armies, and dress use of sabres continues to this day in some armed services around the world.
During the 19th and in the early 20th century, sabres were also used by some police forces. The sabre was later phased out in favour of the baton (or night stick) for humanitarian reasons.
A derivative of this weapon is used under this name in the Olympic sport of fencing.
Gladius:
A gladius (gladius hispaniensis, the spanish sword) is a short sword, 60cm long, used by the Roman Empire legionaries and gladiators before widespread adoption of the spatha.
The gladius is straight and double-edged, with a V-shaped tip, and primarily constructed for thrusting action and use together with a large rectangular shield, the scutum. The cross-section of the gladius is typically rhomboid, providing the blade with good stability for stabbing.
The gladius is frequently depicted in coats of arms, especially of military corps.
The name is Latin, and the diminutive form is gladiolus, also the name of a flowering plant with sword-shaped leaves.
Katana:
The katana is the Japanese longsword (Daito), although many Japanese use this word generically as a catch all word for sword "katana" is the kun-yomi (Japanese reading) of the kanji; the on-yomi (Chinese reading) is "tou" (pronounced [to:]). It refers to a specific type of curved, single-edged sword traditionally used by the Japanese samurai. The scabbard for a katana is referred to as a saya.
It is primarily used for slashing, and can be wielded one- or two-handed (the second being the most common mode). It is worn with cutting-edge up. While the art of practically using the sword for its original purpose is now somewhat obsolete, kenjutsu has turned into gendai budo - modern martial arts for a modern time. The art of drawing the katana is iaido, and kendo is an art of fencing with a shinai (bamboo sword) protected by helmet and armor.
Falchion:
A falchion is a fairly short, one edged sword of European origin. Falchions are found in different forms from around the 11th century up to and including the 16th century. In some versions the falchion looks rather like the scramasax and later the sabre, and in some versions the form is irregular or machete like.
Unlike the double edged swords of Europe, few actual swords of this type have survived to the present day. It is presumed that these swords had a lower average quality and status than the longer, more expensive swords. It is also possible that falchions were used as tools when they were not pressed into service as weapons.
There is ample pictoral evidence of falchions used in combat by commoners and noblemen alike, and this type of sword was most likely fairly popular.
Rapier:
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword with a blade at least 90 centimeters in length, often sporting an elaborate hilt and hand-guard. For most of its period of use, the rapiers was double-edged, some later rapiers were single-edged (with a sharply triangular blade) or edgeless. A rapier is capable of both cutting and thrusting attacks, but the thrust is the main attack in all rapier fighting styles.
Long-sword:
The Long-sword is a type of sword developed as the answer to increasing armour protection coming into use in Europe in primarily the 14th century. No exact definition of a long-sword exists, but it is usually of a larger size than a sword meant for single hand use. The hilt is larger, accommodating a grip with two hands.
The average blade length of a long sword is around 110 centimetres (3 feet and 7 inches), and the weight is usually between 1.2 and 1.8 kilograms (2.6 to 4.0 pounds). The actual size and weight of a long-sword would depend on personal preference and build of the wielder.
Greatsword:
A generic term covering the largest versions of slashing, usually straight bladed European swords.
Since a great sword usually sported a longer, heavy blade - and could require two hands to properly wield - the name came to imply any kind of two-handed sword.
Two-handed sword:
A two-handed sword, used as a general term, is any large sword that requires two hands to use.
For lack of a better word, the designation "two-handed sword" is also used when speaking about a weapon from the European renaissance. This kind of sword was often of the same length as the person wielding it, and had a very long hilt to allow leverage when cutting with it. Contrary to popular belief, two-handers made for combat use are actually quite light, averaging around 2.5 to 3 kilograms. Even so, with the mass distributed over a length of close to two metres, effective use took a man of substantial strength.

Well that’s about all for now. I may update this later with some more if I find anymore information on the topic. Next up we have Ranged weapons, another thing used throughout Medieval Times quite a lot. While it may be hard to have a hero with a bow just think of some that are heroes (or fake ones) with bows. Robin hood springs to mind…


Ranged Weapons:
These come in all sorts of sizes, ranging from the bow to javelins. These have been used dozens of times throughout history. NOTE: this does not include guns!

Bow:
A bow is a weapon that shoots arrows. It is useful for hunting and war. The technique of using a bow is called archery.
A large number of different bow designs have been used in different cultures and time periods. Common designs are: solid wood (the English longbow), laminated wood (Japanese and Saami bows) and bone-wood-hide composite (Middle East, India, Mongols). In modern times, the plastic composite and compound bows dominate for sport and hunting practices.
Longbow:
The longbow was used in the Middle Ages both for hunting and as a weapon of war and reached its zenith of perfection as a weapon in the hands of English and Welsh archers.
The longbow was first recorded as being used by the Welsh in 633 C.E., when Offrid, the son of Edwin, king of Northumbria, was killed by an arrow shot from a Welsh longbow during a battle between the Welsh and the Mercians -- more than five centuries before any record of its military use in England.
Longbows were difficult to master because the draw-weight often exceeded 50kg. Considerable practice was required to produce the swift and effective fire combat required. Skeletons of longbow archers are recognizably deformed, with enlarged left arms, and often bone spurs on left wrists, left shoulders and right fingers.
Crossbow:
A crossbow is a weapon that consists of a prod (similar in appearance to a bow) mounted on a stock similar to a rifle stock, which has a mechanism to wind and shoot its bolts. These bolts are typically called quarrels, and do not depend upon lift as arrows do. Crossbow bolts must be made to have consistent weights as the mechanical process of engaging a bolt forces a more uniform process than that of using a bow and arrow. It is this consistent performance which has made the crossbow historically a significant force in warfare.
A crossbow contains a string which is held in place by a nut when the bolt is loaded and the cross bow is engaged (referred to as at full cock). Typically, the nut is at the end of the shelf (also called the bolt rest).
Javelin:
Javelins were often all wooden, with either one or both ends sharpened. They could be used for throwing, or hand-to-hand combat. They weren't great weapons, but their length and versatility made them valuable. The main reason I put this in here was the lack of ranged weapons.

The last type of weapons I will be covering is Others, this is just a place for me to put all those that don’t fit or all those that there isn’t enough of to make another category.


Others:
In here will be allsorts of weapons, axes, spears and maces plus a whole lot more.

Axe:
An axe or ax is a tool with a metal blade that is securely fastened at a 90 degree angle to a handle, usually of wood. The typical use for an axe is to split wood and chop down trees, but alternative uses in the past have included the battle-axe and the throwing-axe (the Frankish axe or francesca), both used in war.
The method for fastening the blade to the handle has varied over time. It can be lashed, as was probably common in old stone axes, but also simple 'wedged', whereby the end of the handle is slit, then inserted into a socket in the blade, and is held tight by a wedge introduced into the slit and pounded in with a mallet.
Tomahawk:
A Tomahawk was a type of Native American axe. Traditionally short and resembling a hatchet, with a wooden shaft and, initially, with a stone but later with a iron or brass head. A general purpose tool it is often regarded as solely a hand or thrown weapon. The name comes into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Virginian Algonquian word.
Daggers:
A dagger is essentially a special form of knife, where the tang is placed along the center line of the blade.
A dagger is more a weapon made for thrusting than a tool for slicing and cutting. Historically daggers were important secondary weapons in Europe during the Middle Ages and the renaissance.
Often a dagger is fairly long, and some may verge on being of sword length. Most daggers are double edged, although there are exceptions.
A modern version of the dagger is the bayonet, which becomes a spear type weapon when mounted on the barrel of a rifle.
Pole Arms:
A pole weapon is a close combat weapon with the main fighting part of the weapon placed on the end of a long shaft, typically of wood. The use of pole weapons is very old, and the first spears date to the stone age. The purpose of using pole weapons is to either increase angular momentum, and thus striking power, when the weapon is swung, or extending reach. Pole weapons are relatively cheap and simple to make, and they were fairly easy for most people to use effectively as they were often derived from hunting or agricultural tools.
Spears were probably first used as hunting weapons, either for thrusting or for throwing; the ability to strike the prey from a relatively safe distance no doubt appealing to the hunters. It was likely recognized almost immediately that they were also most useful against predators and other humans.
Massed men carrying pole weapons with pointed tips (spears, pikes, etc.) were recognized fairly early in the history of organized warfare as effective military units. On defense the men holding the spears were hard to reach; on the attack, as in the Macedonian phalanx, they were devastating to those units which could not get out of the way.
Spears:
A spear is an ancient weapon, used for hunting and war. It consists of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft. The most common design is of a metal spearhead, shaped somewhat like a dagger, and made entirely for thrusting.
Spears of different designs were used for close combat and for throwing. One of the most famous throwing spears is the pilum used by the Romans.
Lance:
The lance is a pole weapon based on the pattern of the spear but adapted for mounted combat. The lance is perhaps most known as one of the foremost weapons used by European knights, but the use of lances were spread throughout the old world wherever mounts were available.
In Europe, lances for jousting were much different from the weapons used in war. In jousting lances, the tips would be blunt and the center of the lance could be designed to be hollow, in order for it to break on impact. In war, lances were much more like ordinary spears, long and balanced for one handed use.
Mace:
An advance on the club, a mace is a wooden, metal-reinforced or metal shaft, 3 or more feet (a meter or more) long, with a head made of iron or steel adding another foot to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) to the length of the weapon. The head is normally about or slightly thicker than the diameter of the shaft, shaped with flanges, knobs or spikes to allow greater penetration of armor. It, like the war hammer and various other weapons of the time, came about because of the increased use of more effective armor on the battlefield.
A variety of mace called the morning star had its spiked metal ball suspended from a chain attached to the handle, rather than being directly mounted.
Medieval bishops carried maces in battle instead of swords, so as to conform to the canonical rule which forbade priests to shed blood.
Morning Star:
The morning star is a medieval weapon that consists of a spiked ball on the end of a chain attached to a pole. It is a derivative of the mace.
A combatant would swing the ball on the pole around his head and attempt to strike his opponent with it, often with deadly force.
Sometimes, instead of one large spiked ball, the pole was attached with 3 spiked metal balls connected in chains. This modification is called "flail".
Warhammer:
A war hammer is an archaic weapon of war intended for close combat, the design of which resembles the hammer. The war hammer consists, like the tool it resembles, of a handle and a head. The handle may be of different lengths, the longest being roughly equivalent to the halberd, and the shortest about the same as a mace. Long warhammers were pole weapons meant for use against riders, whereas short ones were used in closer quarters and from horseback. Later warhammers often had a spike on one side of the head, thus making it a more versatile weapon.
Warhammers were developed as a consequence of the ever more prevalent metal armors of the medieval battlefields during the 14th and 15th centuries. The war hammer could deal blows of tremendous force to the target, especially when mounted on a pole, and by impact alone do damage without penetrating the armor. The spike end could be used for grappling the target's armor, reins, or shield, or could be turned in the direction of the blow to pierce even heavy armor. Against mounted opponents the weapon could also be directed at the legs of the horse, toppling the armored foe to the ground where they could be dealt with.
Halberd:
A halberd is a pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. It consists of an axe head topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. The back of the axe head was often fitted with a hook for grappling mounted combatants.
Halberds were two-handed axe-like weapons consisting of four parts:
• a handle roughly 7 or 8 foot (1 m 70)long
• an axe blade
• a point
• often a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade
This made the halberd cheap to produce and very versatile in battle. Its length allowed to deflect spears and pikes, its point allowed to keep sword-wielding opponents at distance, and the hook would be used to draw armored opponents to the ground. The axe blade, obviously, was for cutting into unarmed opponents and horses.
Pike:
A pike is a pole weapon once used extensively by infantry and foot-soldiers principally as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Pikes were extremely long weapons, and could exceed six meters in length.
The steel tip was fairly long compared to the shaft, making the weapon most unwieldy in close combat. This meant that pikemen were often equipped with a sword for close encounters.


Well that about wraps things up for this section. I’m not sure what I will be doing next, either religion or wars of the time and how they developed.

Raytane.





Issue Three

Third in the exciting series on Medieval Britain, this time I will be going in depth on the religion of the time, which isn’t as simple a plonking a church down in your game, throwing in a couple of priests and maybe a quest or two. While this may be acceptable for some people, I disagree. However, due to me not being able to write much on the subject I have also included information on Medieval Towns. Anyway, enough of me ranting, here’s the article. Oh also, to stop any more confusion, this article is by Raytane, as my first two got labelled as written by guests. Hopefully this can be fixed.


Religion

The English Medieval Church played a much bigger role then the churches these days. Everyone, be them peasants or nobles believed that God, Heaven and Hell all existed. From the earliest of ages people were taught the only way to get into Heaven was if the Roman Catholic Church let them. Everyone was terrified of Hell and all would have been told of the horrors in hell waiting for them in weekly services they attended.

The control of the church was total. Peasants worked on church land for free. This wasn’t very good for the peasants as the time they spent working away on the churches land could have been spent on working their own land to provide food for their families. They paid 10% of their yearly income to the church (this tax was called tithes).Tithes could be paid in either money or goods produced by the peasant farmers. As peasants rarely had any money they mostly paid with harvested grain, animals, seeds etc. This usually cost the peasant a lot of work as seeds for example, would have been needed to grow next years crop to feed the family. What the church received from tithes was kept in a huge “tithe barn”, a lot of the grain was eaten by the rats or poisoned by their urine. To fail to pay tithes, or so the peasant were told, would mean their souls would go to hell after they had died.
You also had to pay for baptisms, which, so the church said, was the only way to get to heaven (you could not go if you did not get baptised), marriages (there were no couples living together in Medieval Times as the Church taught that this equalled sin) and burials – you had to be buried on holy soil if your soul wanted to go to heaven. Either way you look the church gets money.

The church also did not have to pay taxes, which made them wealthier than any other king in England. The sheer wealth of the church is best shown in their buildings, cathedrals, churches, monasteries etc.

In Medieval England, peasants lived in cruck houses. These were filthy, usually no more than two rooms, with a wooden frame covered with wattle and daub (a mixture of mud, straw and manure). No cruck houses exist now - most simply collapsed after a while as they were so poorly built. However, there are many medieval churches around. The way they were built and have lasted for centuries, is an indication of how well they were built and the money the Church had to invest in these building.
Overall the Church was the richest, most powerful landowner in all of England.


Medieval Towns

Towns, have you ever seen a game without one? Well, normally these would have a weapon shop, an armor shop, an Inn, some important person’s house (eg. Mayor or King) and a few random houses. Sure this is fine, but I’m just going to go a bit more detailed than that.
There were few towns in Medieval England and those that existed were very small by our standards. Most people in Medieval England were village peasants but religious centers did attract people and many developed into towns or cities.
Medieval towns tended to grow around areas were people could easily meet such as cross roads or rivers. Towns needed more water then a village to a nearby water supply was vital. Rivers were used for washing, drinking and disposing of sewage (if it hadn’t already been dumped on the street).

Village people came to towns to trade; there for the owner of the town had to make sure the town was safe. Often towns would have a large fence built around the perimeter of the town, with the gates locked at night to keep out undesirables.
A successful town attracted many merchants to it. Many towns were owned by a lord an it was in his interest to attract merchants, as they had to pay tax. The more merchants, the more tax the lord gets. Taxes were collected by a sheriff. As many people could not read or write the system was open for abuse and corruption. This is why many people in towns wanted to get a charter.

A charter gave people in a town certain rights that were clearly stated in the charter that town had. Many charters gave towns the right to collect their own taxes thus removing corrupt sheriffs from doing so. It was also common for a town to ask for its own law court so that legal problems could be settled quickly.

Towns were a dirty place to live in. There was no sewage system as we have today. Many people would throw toilet waste out the window and onto the street along with other rubbish. This in turn attracted a lot of rats into the towns, thus leading to the Black Death. Sometimes a town would use pigs to eat up rubbish. The water was also far from clean, as it would have been polluted by rubbish thrown in from towns upstream and downstream. Therefore, as people would have used this source of water (they had no other choice) and because people knew little about health and hygiene, disease was common. Life expectancy was short. Life for a poor person in a town or city was often described as “nasty, brutal and short”.

As homes were made of wood, fire was another danger in a town or city. Walking in a town at night could also be dangerous. Though towns had a curfew (a time when everyone had to be in their homes) no town had a police force to deal with those who broke the law. No town had street lights - the only choice was candles but in a wooden city or town, these ‘street lights’ could prove disastrous.

Shops attracted people to a town. The shops also doubled as a home for the craftsman that worked in it. A sign outside of the shop showed people what that person did for a living. Signs had to be used as so few people could read or write.


Well, this is by far my shortest one so far:(. A disappointment I agree but no matter, next time I will make sure it is long, really long! Not sure what to do next, maybe I’ll do the wars thing which I was considering doing last time. Any other ideas, comments, criticism is accepted.

Raytane.
Up is down, left is right and sideways is straight ahead. - Cord "Circle of Iron", 1978 (written by Bruce Lee and James Coburn... really...)
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